Leon Watson, 90, died Sunday, Aug. 22 at Kaiser Hospital, Modesto.He lived in Escalon for 38 years.He was active in community service, coordinating the Escalon community dances since 1989 until the last dance was held in 2009. The dances took place every first and third Sunday of the month. He was also involved with the Riverbank and Oakdale community dances.He is survived by his wife, Allene Watson; sons, Troy and Douglas Watson; daughter, Tomé Porter; two grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.A memorial service was held Aug. 27 at Lakewood Funeral Home - Heritage Chapel.The Oakdale (Calif.) Leader ...

Shelli A. Thomason, 43, died Saturday, Aug. 28.She was born in Patterson and lived there six years. She moved with her family to Urbana, MO, living there for over three years. The family returned to California, and she has lived in Oakdale for over 30 years. She attended Oakdale schools.When she was 18, her father taught her to drive 18-wheelers. She loved driving truck and did so until she was injured in 1992.Ms. Thomason also enjoyed riding horses and having dogs all her life. She loved her Boston terrier dog, Diamond.She loved giving and also taking ...

John Earl 'Jack' Hannan, 85, died Saturday, Aug. 28 at Oak Valley Care Center.He was born in Santa Rosa and moved to San Francisco, where he was raised. He lived in Oakdale for 21 years.He attended Andrew Jackson and Alvarado grammar schools, Roosevelt Junior High, Lowell High, City College of San Francisco, and Samuel Gompers Trade School. His interests at that time were engines, mostly aircraft engines. He was preparing for service in the Army Air Corps with aspirations to be a crew chief on B-17s. His other studies included navigation, aerodynamics, physics, and radio.Mr. Hannan volunteered ...

Richard Nicholas Furino, 76, died Saturday, Aug. 21.He was a native of Connecticut. He lived in Oakdale for 10 years.Mr. Furino was a consultant in the printing industry for 49 years.He is survived by his children, Richard Furino of Thousand Oaks, Lisa Catanzano of Fremont, Toni Furino of Georgia; sister, Rita Merrill of Sonoma; three grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.Services were held. Burial was at Oaklawn Memorial Park.Oakdale-Riverbank Memorial Chapels in charge of arrangements.The Oakdale (Calif.) LeaderSept. 1, 2010

Irene (Lafoy) Dooley, 99, died peacefully on Thursday, Aug. 26 surrounded by family at Bethel Retirement Community, where she lived for the past five years.She was born to Eli and Clara Langford in Meeker, Oklahoma. She moved to Oakdale in 1945 and resided here until 2005.Mrs. Dooley worked as a psychiatric technician for the State of California for 30 years.She was an avid gardener and donated much time to community service. She enjoyed gambling and organizing bus trips to Reno and Tahoe. She traveled a great deal, enjoying adventures in Mexico, Canada, and Hawaii.She was known ...